Just as Lu Yuan was about to break through to the Half-Step Civilization Realm, countless sharp streams of energy suddenly shot toward him.

An attack!

He was being assaulted right here in the House of Confucian Swords.

Lu Yuan casually raised the Chuanzheng Immortal Scroll, deflecting these sharp energy streams, and demanded in a deep voice, "Who is it?"

"I am." An aged elder in gray robes and white hair appeared.

This was—Lu Yuan did recall this man's identity. This man was called Xun Tong, rumored to be a veteran of the Confucian Civilization, one of the earliest group to follow the Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization in this epoch. Every epoch and every civilization had to be re-established because everyone else failed to pass the tribulation of the epoch; only those at the Civilization Realm could.

Xun Tong was certainly a supremely senior figure in the Confucian Civilization, one of the founding contributors to its establishment, possessing the strength of the Half-Step Civilization Realm.

When he was within the Confucian Civilization, Lu Yuan had met Xun Tong several times and had even been instructed to be polite and courteous to this founding contributor of the Confucian Civilization. He never expected Xun Tong would be the one attacking him now.

Lu Yuan asked strangely, "You would attack me at this time? Why? Could it be that you are a traitor?"

"No, I am not a traitor." A faint smile played on Xun Tong’s face. "How could I be a traitor? I have been with the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization from the very beginning. It was arranged by the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization from the start—an agent planted within the Confucian Civilization. The Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization is far-sighted and ruthless in his methods; how could he be compared to the dull, clumsy, and inflexible Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization?"

So that was it. Lu Yuan nodded. "Then what about the Great Defensive Formation of the Confucian Civilization?"

"Yes, I was the one who deactivated it," Xun Tong confirmed. "I am one of the few remaining who followed the Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization in this epoch. Normally, the Great Defensive Formation of the Confucian Civilization is managed personally by the Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization, but he suffered severe injuries and now has little energy left, so it has been managed by a few of us. This created a loophole, and by killing the others, it naturally fell to me to manage it." Lu Yuan now understood completely: Xun Tong was fundamentally a man of the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization, and he was the one who had deactivated the Civilization Formation. The current predicament of the Confucian Civilization was most likely due to Xun Tong.

"Then why are you appearing here?" Lu Yuan wondered.

"Although the House of Confucian Swords has been sealed for a long time, the structure itself was jointly created by the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization and the Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization. Back then, the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization left a breach here. After I studied it further, I also accompanied the Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization inside once."

Xun Tong smiled. "So, my appearance here is quite normal."

Lu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back. "I am only curious about one thing: how are you confident you can deal with me? I have defeated the Demon Child; logically, you shouldn't be my match."

"Because the House of Confucian Swords has a formation within it, a formation you don't know about, but one that truly exists. This formation is called the Demon Extermination Array, composed of countless sword energies. And I currently hold the key nexus of this formation," Xun Tong declared with self-satisfaction.

"Minister Li, after killing you, I will have the Book of Civilization and the Primordial Script, hahaha! It seems Heaven intends to assist my breakthrough to the Civilization Realm!" Xun Tong was inherently secretive; otherwise, the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization would never have chosen him to be a mole in the Confucian Civilization. He had been undercover for so long without exposing any flaws, acting cautiously and feigning the guise of a great proponent of Confucianism. Such a person possessed immense patience. Under normal circumstances, he would have simply watched the Confucian Civilization be destroyed without taking action himself. But Minister Li possessed the Book of Civilization and the Script character, which compelled him to act. Even so, he acted with extreme caution, seizing control of the House of Confucian Swords' own Grand Array before leisurely stepping out.

The inherent Demon Extermination Array of the House of Confucian Swords could essentially kill anyone below the Civilization Realm.

Because this was the heavy formation of the Confucian Civilization.

A heavy formation calls for a heavy formation.

Xun Tong stood with his hands clasped behind his back. "Having spoken with you for so long, the formation is fully activated. You can die now." Xun Tong was a man given to scheme. He had noticed Lu Yuan was at the critical juncture of enhancing his power, so he emerged to temporarily halt Lu Yuan's breakthrough. Simultaneously, he knew the great array wasn't fully prepared, so he began revealing details and speaking with Lu Yuan to stall for time until the array was completely ready.

And now, the great preparation was complete.

Countless supremely sharp sword energies—energies of near-extinction—shot straight toward Lu Yuan. These sword energies were infused with destructive intent, carrying grand principles and vast passages within them, leaving no room for escape.

Lu Yuan found this annihilating sword energy terrifying; even those ranked in the Fifty Heavenly Scrolls might not withstand it, and those below the Fiftieth Scroll would certainly face certain death. Hua Fa Sheng would undoubtedly perish if caught within it.

It was a pity—or rather, thankfully—that it was sword energy.

Lu Yuan possessed the Sword Dao Gourd and the Myriad Swords Return to the Origin technique; he naturally feared no sword energy.

This time, he did not use the Sword Dao Gourd but activated the Myriad Swords Return to the Origin technique. All of the incoming sword energy was drawn into Lu Yuan’s Sword Dao Black Hole, enhancing his cultivation.

This sword energy was plentiful. After absorbing the first wave, Lu Yuan noticed that the sword energy enveloped him from all four directions.

It was an absolute cage of sword energy, allowing no path up or down.

After unleashing the Demon Extermination Array, Xun Tong felt completely secure. Such annihilating sword energy would be difficult even for Zhu Tianren or Wang Xueze to survive. Xun Tong waited, anticipating seizing the Book of Civilization and the Script character. Oh, and Minister Li was the most cherished disciple of that pedantic old ghost, the Vice-Lord of the Confucian Civilization; there must be many good treasures. He could make a fortune this time. Moreover, for the great merit of destroying the Confucian Civilization, he should receive rewards from the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization. Perhaps with these rewards, he too could break through to the Civilization Realm and cast all those lofty figures on the Fifty Heavenly Scrolls into oblivion.

As Xun Tong indulged in his fantasy, he saw a handsome man in white slowly walking out from amidst the boundless sword energy—it was Minister Li’s exact appearance.

"How is this possible! How could you walk out of the Demon Extermination Array unharmed?" Xun Tong looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Because I absorbed all the sword energy," Lu Yuan stated calmly. Simultaneously, he raised the Chuanzheng Immortal Scroll and unleashed an attack. Xun Tong, caught in his shock, reacted belatedly and tried to flee, but his strength was only comparable to figures like the Emperor's Son Li Xiong. Within a few moves, Lu Yuan had killed him.

After slaying Xun Tong, Lu Yuan searched his belongings and found many items linking him to the Vice-Lord of the Heavenly Law Civilization. He also discovered an Ancient Swordsman Token. It turned out this token was the control nexus for the House of Confucian Swords. Lu Yuan had already collected four such tokens; there were only eight in existence. This was the fifth. Once all eight were gathered, one could enter the Tomb of the Ancient Swordsman, perhaps finally unraveling the mystery of the Dou Tian from the previous epoch's Sword Ancient Civilization.

Because Xun Tong had wasted some time, every second now counted; Lu Yuan needed to rush to save people.

Lu Yuan hesitated no longer, sitting cross-legged to continue his push toward the Half-Step Civilization Realm.

He had actually already reached the threshold of the Half-Step Civilization Realm. After absorbing the endless sword energy from the Demon Extermination Array, he barely needed to absorb the mana from the divine swords. The mana within his body surged turbulently, rushing past the barrier, and Lu Yuan felt his entire power erupting, shattering the boundary of this realm.

Finally, he had reached the Half-Step Civilization Realm.

Upon attaining the Half-Step Civilization Realm, Lu Yuan faintly sensed that he was somehow touching the edge of the true Civilization Realm—a supreme power that hovered above the multitude of living beings. He subtly felt that he was gradually possessing some of that power that transcended all living things, accompanied by a sense of transcendence.

This sense of transcendence was above God, Immortal, Demon, Fiend, Buddha, and Man.

This sense of transcendence was above the epoch itself.

Any living creature that encountered this feeling of transcendence would have only one thought: one must transcend; one must obtain this power that reigns supreme over everything.

Lu Yuan finally understood why so many unparalleled geniuses were so desperate to break through to the Civilization Realm.

This feeling of being above and reigning supreme over everything was too wonderful.

So wonderful that he, having only just reached the Half-Step Civilization Realm, nearly became lost in it.

After a long while, Lu Yuan finally collected himself. He was now closer than ever to the Civilization Realm.

Having reached the Half-Step Civilization Realm, he also found that his mana and his physical body were far stronger than when he was at the Tenth Heaven of the World Realm. Moreover, his Civilization Song was significantly louder than during his breakthrough to the World Realm’s Tenth Heaven. If the House of Confucian Swords had not sealed this place, the Civilization Song would likely have echoed across the entire battlefield.

What colossal power! Lu Yuan was certain that his current strength now surpassed that of the Son of Desolation when he was in the Holy Land of Civilization, and it also surpassed the two top experts on the Heavenly Scrolls, Zhu Tianren and Wang Xueze.

The mana attached to the two divine swords had not yet been fully absorbed, so Lu Yuan began absorbing the mana from these two divine swords as well. Instantly, his power continued to soar, feeling ever closer to the Civilization Realm, seeing that final gate—that heavenly threshold—more clearly. That threshold was impossibly high, higher than mountains beyond description, larger than stars beyond measure.

The first hurdle to the Civilization Realm had finally appeared!

This heavenly threshold was truly a threshold that inspired despair.

Lu Yuan now understood more profoundly why breaking through to the Civilization Realm was so difficult. No wonder there were so few masters at the Civilization Realm in the current age—usually only a few per civilization, and perhaps just over ten in ancient civilizations. Counting across heaven and earth, including the Civilization Realm experts in the Lost Lands, there were likely only a few hundred at the Civilization Realm in total.

Trillions upon trillions upon trillions of beings.

Compared to a few hundred masters in the Civilization Realm.

A simple comparison of life quantities revealed the profound mystery.

...

On the battlefield, the fighting raged intensely, and the fires of war burned fiercely.